Breeders' Cup Classic: Flat Out's feet prevent him from workout

Tom Keyser

Flat Out (left) will be refitted with special shoes that he will try out during a breeze on Monday or Tuesday at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Flat Out, the two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner and one of the favorites for next month’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, is dealing with foot issues again that prompted trainer Bill Mott to postpone a workout scheduled for Sunday morning.

At this point, Mott does not believe the issue will force Flat Out to miss the Classic, a race in which he finished fifth as the 7-2 favorite last year.

However, Mott said he wants to get new shoes put on Flat Out’s front feet before he breezes him. Mott was hoping to get Flat Out re-shod with a specialized shoe Sunday and perhaps breeze Flat Out Monday or Tuesday at Belmont.

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 “I got to make a slight change on him before he breezes,” Mott said Sunday morning outside his Belmont Park barn. “We’re just protecting him, trying to be proactive.”

 Flat Out’s feet have been problematic throughout his career. Mott said that Flat Out has a tendency to bruise the bulbs of his heels of his front feet.

 “He’s been a day-to-day project as they all are,” said Mott, who took over the training of Flat Out earlier this year. “It’s no secret his feet have been an issue. I just want to offer him a little protection before he works.”

Mott said that Flat Out has been galloping so he has not missed any training.

It is worth noting that Mott won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic with Drosselmeyer, who wore bar shoes in the race to protect his problematic feet.

Despite his foot problems, Flat Out, a 6-year-old son of Flatter, has won the last two runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and last year’s Grade 2 Suburban and has earned more than $2 million for Preston Stables.

Mott said Sunday that Al Khali was scratched out of the Canadian International due to soft ground at Woodbine and could be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Mott also said Sunday that Harrods Creek, a horse he had been pointing to the Breeders’ Cup Marathon, did not come out of his most recent workout in good shape and will not run in the Breeders’ Cup.